In a sharply worded interview with BGNES, Bulgarian Defense Minister Krasimir Karakacanov listed his grievances against Macedonia, as Bulgaria prepares to block the opening of EU accession talks.

We were the first to recognize Macedonia in 1992, which lead to preventing the spread of war on its territory. Bulgaria helped the Republic of (North) Macedonia militarily, diplomatically and financially. Instead, we get insults, we get called fascists and a Tatar tribe, Karakacanov said.

Bulgaria now wants the removal of plaques that commemorate instances of fighting between Macedonian partisans and Bulgarian occupying forces in World War Two, which often state Bulgaria’s then allegiance to the Axis. The Tatar term refers to the fact that Bulgarian history draws their origin to the Volga Bulgarians. While both terms are normally used rarely, tensions rose with the Bulgarian veto threat, and public discourse on social media and news sites on both sides has deteriorated badly. Official statements have been tame from the Macedonian side, while Bulgarian officials have ramped up rhetoric, including Karakacanov’s comment that he will send an engineer battalion to Skopje to remove the plaques with the term “fascist” on them.

Bulgaria wants Macedonia to acknowledge that the Bulgarian nation and language derived from the Bulgarian and threatens it will not allow the opening of EU accession talks if Macedonia does not deliver.

We will see what will happen in a week. The choice whether they will become an EU member state is theirs. They will not become part of the EU with Comintern style banging on the table. We signed a treaty but a year after it was signed it was no longer respected, Karakacanov said, referring to the 2017 Zaev – Borisov treaty which created a joint commission of historians and gave Bulgaria the right to block the opening of EU accession talks if this commission does not deliver on the results Bulgaria expects.